


The Forgotten

by orphan_account



Category: Minecraft: Story Mode - Fandom
Genre: AU, Admin!AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Axel is an Admin, Jesse and the others have been Admins for like 1000 years, Jesse is an Admin, Jesse is snarky, Lukas is sweet, Mega canon divergence, Olivia is an Admin, Petra is an Admin, Romeo's still an admin, That is how canon divergence this gets, The lore is kinda tricky, There's a lot of lore in this, basically shes an Admin, but its subtle - Freeform, some violence, well sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23700085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When the world was young there were more gods than the Admin. When they betrayed him, he locked them away. But legend tells us that one broke free from her prison, and walks the earth today, seeking people to help her break her fellow traitors out of their cages
Relationships: Jesse & Axel, Jesse & Olivia, Jesse & Olivia & Axel & Petra, Jesse & Petra, Olivia & Axel, Olivia/Axel, Petra & Axel, Petra & Olivia
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	1. Setup Part One

Today, we only know the three true gods.

Notch, the creator, who formed the laws of our world. He rules the good, the pure, and keeps the peace.

Herobrine, the destroyer, who created the Nether and the monsters of the world. He rules the darkness, the evil, and keeps the demons contained.

And the Admin, the lifegiver, who made our world and the humans within. He keeps the peace, making sure that neither side has too much power.

However, the true trio weren't always the only gods. And I'm not talking about the two Traitors, who both attempted to kill the Admin, one losing his life and the other her powers as a result.

No, I'm talking about the Four Forgotten, or, as they are sometimes known, the Four Fallen.

The first was the son of one of the Traitors, so perhaps its not as big of a surprise that he fell. His name was Axel, and he was born with hair as black as squid ink, and eyes the color of grass. When he was a god, he was in command of the overworld, and had power over the weather.

The sisters, Olivia and Petra, who ruled the End and the Nether respectively. Olivia had hair darker than the void, and skin like warm chocolate. She could teleport as an enderman, and fly like the dragon. Her sister Petra however, had flaming red hair, and eyes like chips of ice. She could command lava and flames, willing it into existence or banishing it away.

And finally, there was the Unknown Goddess. Her name has been forgot to time, as has her domain of rule. But they say her hair was blacker than obsidian and her eyes as green as emeralds. They say she was a shapeshifter, who could become a different person, animal, or even monster, as easily as breathing. She could transform others too, simply by gaining a drop of their blood.

These four gods had something in common. Each of them, was once a mortal human. However, they sparked the interest of the Traitors. Axel, because he was willing to sacrifice himself to save a young wolf cub from a creeper, Petra, for she braved the Nether in order to keep her promises, and Olivia, for she discovered Chorus Fruit. The Unknown Goddess became a god when in a competition, she was willing to destroy her sure to win build, in order to save the lives of her friends and family.

Perhaps it was because their powers came from the Traitors, or perhaps it was because unlike the Traitors and True Trio, the Fallen were once human. Whatever the reason, the Four Fallen became dissatisfied with their powers, and attacked the True Trio, perhaps in hope of stealing their power. However, the Admin used his magnificent powers to stop them. In order to trap them, the Admin turned them from gods into demons.

Axel's skin, once pale as snow, became darker, a deep rich blue like his father. And from his forehead grew ram's horns, which glow when he uses his powers. His eyes became cold as ice, and his hair turned midnight blue. He was trapped in the Nether, where the bedrock roof could ensure that he could not summon lightning to free himself.

Olivia's eyes became blacker than the void, and her skin turned dark purple. She sprouted dragons wings, and her fingernails turned into claws. It's said she was trapped in the Overworld, underneath the ocean where her Enderman could never teleport.

Petra's hair become pure lava, and her skin turned blood red, patterned with orange stripes as Magma Blocks. She gained an extra set of pure white eyes, with teardrop markings at the edge, making it appear as though she were eternally weeping. She was trapped in the End, where the dragon could keep watch over her and ensure she never burnt her way free.

As for the unknown goddess, her skin turned to silver and her eyes to gold. They say her teeth became as zombies fangs, and anyone she bit would become a demon like her. No one knows where she was trapped, since she could talk to any mobs, they say there was no place in the world as we know it to keep her, so the Admin put her in a completely different world, a barren one. But despite being trapped where she supposedly could not draw power, they say that the unknown goddess escaped her shackles.

They say that she broke free, and vowed revenge on the True Trio.

They say that she walks among us, to this very day.


	2. Setup Part Two

In Beacontown, everyone knew everyone. The place wasn't exactly large. They were a small mining community, with a population of probably one hundred.

Literally, everybody knew everyone else by name. Even if you weren't best friends with someone, you still knew their name, their hobbies, and what they wore to the bake sale two days ago.

Gossip was...kind of a problem in Beacontown to be honest. Like, you were only out of the loop if you were the person being gossiped on, and you really only stayed out of the loop for about a day and a half because your friends would be so bursting to tell you the gossip about you they would rather tell you the news instead of keep it a secret from you that everyone was talking about you.

That's why, when one morning, the people of Beacontown awoke to find that the house for sale on the edge of town had been bought, with a mysterious new resident...well, you can only guess as to the rumors that went flying that day...

* * *

Lukas stretched his arms up above his head as he left the library. He'd had twelve different people ask him if he'd heard of the newcomer since his shift had started, and had also heard twelve different opinions of the newcomer.

"Yo Lukas!"

Lukas turned and grinned at Maya. One of his three closest friends, Maya had brown hair which she swept out of her face with a gold pin. "Hey Maya!" he called "How'd it go at the market?" Maya worked at the marketplace during the mornings, and in the evenings she took most of the young kids in town and brought them to the library while their parents enjoyed the time off from work.

Maya groaned, dropping her head back "Uuuugggghhhh soooo long! First, Stephan had me reorganize his Slime Stand, then Bob needed me to clean up some old cobwebs that got in the concessions stand. I'm as excited as anyone for Endercon, I mean, it's what's kept us on the map for eight years, but like...why does everyone put cleanup until last minute? Setup starts next month!"

"Well, you should have an extra hand this year, or so I hear." Lukas said.

Maya shrugged "I don't know, I ran into the new girl at the market, she was buying a bunch of seeds. I mean, I know she bought Cassie's house which is way out on the edge of town, but still, we're a mining community not a giant farmland."

Lukas's eyes widened "Wait you've met her? Maya spill, what's she look like, what's she act like? Did she really kick at Tim?"

Maya rolled her eyes "Boys, I swear. Everyone says girls are gossipers, you and Aiden gossip more than me."

Lukas looked at her pleadingly "Come on Maya, just answer the questions."

Maya sighed, but she had a smirk on her face and a glimmer in her eyes. "Alright, so in order, she's got really dark hair and like, pale skin, and huge green eyes. Like, massively wide. And she acted...normal? I dunno. Definitely kind of shady and weird, but really, what sort of person moves _into_ Beacontown? She's got to have something mysterious going on in the backstory. And I didn't see her kick at Tim, but I _did_ hear from Steve, that Mrs. Powder caught her eating Rotten Flesh just for kicks."

"Whaaaaa?" Lukas asked, half punching Maya's shoulder "You're pulling my leg."

Maya shook her head "I swear to The Life-Giver." She paused "Oh, and her name? Is Jessica, Gill told me himself. He actually was one of the first ones to talk to her, did you know that? Her name's Jessica. Jessica Yvonestone."

Lukas's brow arched "Heck of a last name." he said "Wonder where she's from."

Maya shrugged "There's a bet between Petra and Aiden right now, Aiden claims she's from one of the Nether City outposts, but Nell thinks she's from out by Edgeland, even though her accent sounds like something more from around here, which would also help her having found us before Endercon, no matter how close to it we are."

Lukas tilted his head "Think she's from here originally? Maybe she had folks from Beacontown that moved out."

Maya hummed "It's possible, but I think the older guys would have remembered her, even if by name only."

Lukas nodded "True. Well, I've got to get home and check in on Dewey." Dewey was his Ocelot, Lukas had spent almost a year and a half getting his wild animal permit, but it had payed off. He'd adopted Dewey about two months ago, and the baby Ocelot was growing quickly.

Maya nodded in understanding. "Of course, give the little guy a rub on the head for me, will you?"

Lukas flashed her a grin "Will do, see you at the meeting later?"

Maya grinned "Absolutely!"

With that said, the two parted ways until the afternoon meeting of their small build club 'The Ocelots'. And though they didn't yet know it, that meeting would change their lives, and upturn everything they had learned about the gods.

* * *

In a small house on the edge of Beacontown, a girl with pale skin and jet black hair was sitting crosslegged on her bed. Her hands were held between here, palms facing each other.

As she sat there, they began to glow slightly, and after a few minutes of the glow, a parrot landed on the windowsill of her room.

The girl lowered her hands, and turned to the window, opening it to allow the parrot inside.

"Hello my friend," she crooned, stroking the bird's head feathers. "Were you able to find it?"

The bird chirped excitedly, feathers fluffing proudly as its head bobbed.

"So she really is here!" The girl beamed at the parrot "You've done sooooo well Chirp, thank you. Here, come inside, I've got some seed for you!"

Climbing off of her bed, the girl held out a hand, which Chirp jumped onto, twittering happily.

Carrying the parrot out of the bedroom and into the storage room, the girl fed him some seeds and watched as he flew in circles around her house happily.

But even though her eyes were watching, her mind was racing with excitement.

Because after all of these years...

She'd finally found where one of her friends was trapped.


	3. First Meetings

Jessica Yvonestone stood in front of a fullbody mirror, twisting slightly as she looked at her reflection. "Skin looks good," she muttered, "Eyes are fine..." she opened her mouth wide, to reveal a maw full of jagged teeth. She winced, then held her mouth open as her eyes flashed golden. In fluid motions, her teeth straightened and flattened, becoming more human in appearance.

Ensuring that her eyes were once again a bright emerald green, Jessica took a strand of hair and measured it. "Same length as yesterday, needs to be a little lighter..." with another flash of gold in her eyes, the ravenette's hair became ever so slightly paler. Not gray by any means, but not the pure black it had been.

With one final check in the mirror, Jessica took a deep breath, and turned for the door, snatching a map off the small table. Whistling and lifting an arm, the female paused in front of the door for long enough to let a blue and gold parrot land on her shoulder, before leaving her house.

Stepping into the sunlight, Jessica glanced around. She'd moved into a house as far out of town as she could get, which was pretty much a fancy way of saying she only had three direct neighbors. And, of course, all three were quickly looking away and pretending to be busy, so that they didn't get caught trying to spy on her. The teen smiled, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. Even if the people were snoopy here, at least they were leaving her well enough alone.

Looking down at the map, the ravenette traced a path that would lead her through the town to the other side and out to what should be an empty clearing with a few hills and caves. "Ready Chirp?" she asked, looking at the small parrot hopping on her shoulder. The bird whistled happily, and took flight, circling above her head and waiting for her to start moving.

Jessica laughed, and after looking at the map once more, began to make her way to the clearing.

* * *

Lukas made his way into the Ocelot's usual meeting place and waved his hand above his head. "Hey guys!" he called.

Aiden and Gill waved back, and Maya gave him a snarky salute, smirking at him as she did so.

The Ocelots were a sort of building gang he and Aiden had founded about two years ago. They worked around the community, building for people who hired them, deconstructing unneeded things, and generally just helping out. Aiden was his best friend, and practically Lukas's brother. The two of them were neighbors, though Aiden spent most of his time home working in the barns his family was so proud of. Lukas didn't really know why Aidens parents and sister were proud of the animals they kept when Aiden did all of the work raising and training them, but it seemed to make Aiden happy so he wasn't saying anything.

Maya was Lukas's other friend before the Ocelots. She worked mostly at the Market as an extra hand setting up stalls and cleaning out unused ones. She and Lukas had met as pre-teens, and become instant friends when Maya had punched Nohr in the face for calling Lukas's obsession with wild cats 'stupid and dumb'. Nohr and her family had moved away to the TNT capital of the world sometime after that, but you didn't see either of the two complaining.

Gill was their adult supervision. Well, technically. Gill had been 18 when the Ocelots had been formed, and he'd joined mostly because they needed at least one legal adult to form their club. At the time, Lukas had been 15, Maya 14, and Aiden 16. Now at 17, 16, and 18 respectively, they didn't really 'need' Gill in the Ocelots anymore, but they'd grown attached to the bearded man. And Gill was also Maya's older brother, so kicking him out but keeping Maya would have made things _really_ awkward.

"Whats the plan for today's job?" Aiden asked, crossing his arms and standing in a relaxed pose.

"Build job," Lukas said, pulling a book from a small back slung on his hip. Flipping through it he read "With Endercon coming closer, Mayor Stella wants us to build a new attraction for tourists, something big enough to be seen from town, but out of the way."

"Where's the site?" Maya asked, pulling out her pickax.

Lukas flipped another few pages in the book, and replied "The clearing out by the east side, next to the road. Closest we're permitted to build to the road is twenty-blocks out. The mayor wants us to leave plenty of space for lines."

"Apart from road closeness, how big can we go?" Gill asked, head tilted as he started to work out possible blueprints in his mind. Lukas grinned "Long as we stay within the confines already stated, as big as we want. Including height."

Slowly, as the rest of the Ocelots realized just what that meant they could do, smirks appeared on each of their faces.

"What are we hanging around here for?" Aiden asked "Lets get over there and start figuring out what we're making!"

* * *

As she reached the clearing, having got held up several times by Beacontowners who wished to talk to her, or by paths having been changed since the map was last updated, Jessica realized she wasn't the only one intending to search the clearing today. A group of four was walking around, each wearing matching leather jackets.

Standing awkwardly on the edge of the clear space with Chirp circling her head, Jessica wondered how hard it would be to get into the caves with these four here. Of course, chances were the cave she was looking for was covered up, but once she was out of sight she could use her powers to search for life within them, and any monsters guarding her friend's jail could lead her.

Focusing on the four humans scurrying around the clearing, Jessica realized they were clearing land to build something. A twinge of pain echoed through her heart, as she remembered some of the builds she and her friends had made over their years together. Taking a deep breath to try and focus on something, anything else, Jessica tried to work out what the team of four was making.

For the most part the four seemed intent on clearing space, clearly whatever they were making was big. There were several sets of barred off areas, which Jessica assumed was to block holes until they were ready to be covered. That was bad, if the caves were covered it could take hours to find them again. Which meant one of two things. Either she had to mark where the caves were, without notice, in a way that would leave the marker there until nightfall, or she had to get down there now.

Whichever of her friends was trapped under the earth...they had waited long enough. Jessica lifted her chin. She had waited long enough.

Straightening her back and giving her body a final check over (though she had no way of making sure her eyes weren't glowing) Jessica marched out of the small stretch of woodland and into the clearing. Chirp whistled happily, following her lead once again.

"Excuse me." Jessica called. The four humans paused in their work, slowly turning to stare at her. The blonde glanced at the brunet, who frowned but shrugged, then turned back to Jessica. "Uhhh...hi" he said, leaving the pile of dirt he was working on clearing. "Can...we help you?"

Jessica nodded swiftly "I need to get into the caves, its extremely important."

"If you need to go mining-" the blonde started.

"No, not mining. It's...something else." Jessica interrupted.

The blonde guy frowned "I...can't just let you go into uncharted caves by yourself, not without armor, a sword, proper mining supplies, a permit, or someone with you who does have a permit."

Jessica crossed her arms "I just told you, I don't need to mine I just need to get into the caves."

The blonde shrugged "Beacontown law, either you get licensed, or you come back with someone who is."

Jessica scowled. _'I don't have time for this!_ 'she thought furiously. "Well do any of you have permits?"

The blonde turned to look at the others, then back to Jessica "I do, and so do Gill and Aiden. Maya can't get hers until next year."

"Great." Jessica said, cutting him off before he could say anything else "Then one of you is coming with me."

"Not me" The brunet shouted. Jessica glanced further at him, and now that she was closer realized she recognized him from yesterday, they'd had a...minor run-in out by the mines when she'd been looking for a map of town. It...hadn't gone she noted with a small twinge of annoyance that the green had already faded from his hair.

Actually, now that she was really looking into the faces of them all, she recognized the other two as well. The bearded one had introduced himself Gill (well, there had been another name in there, but he'd insisted she call him Gill over it), and the girl she'd met at the market when she was buying seeds to start up her farm. She hadn't gotten her name though.

Turning back to Gill, Jessica arched a brow. He shook his head, and turned away, face flushing red as he did so.

"Guess that leaves you." Jessica said, turning back to blondie.

"I can't just up and leave my team!" He spluttered "Not to mention we don't even know eachother, and you still haven't told me what you actually want to do down there!"

Jessica arched a brow "I don't know if I can trust you with that information." she replied.

"Ooooooooooo"

Jessica shot a glare to the three others, but they all were mostly focused on smirking at blonde guy.

"Look. I can't tell you what I need to do down there, but it is really important. You don't have to come the whole way, just guide me into it, once I'm there, I'm out of your hair. I wont tell a soul you left me, and if anyone figures it out, just deny you even know me."

The blonde spluttered some more, his words incoherent, so Jessica decided to speed up his decision making skills.

"Look, either we do it that way, or I punch you in the face, get blood all over your shirt, and run down there."

The blonde yelped, jumping backwards "No!" he blurted. The female of their group giggled, and the blonde shot her a glare. "Alright!" he snapped, turning back to Jessica. Running a hand through his hair he repeated "Alright, I'll take you just..whatever it is thats so important, come and find me when you're done so I at least know you're safe."

Jessica rolled her hand "Alright, we can meet in the morning at my house, which, given that there was only one house for sale in this entire town, I'm going to assume you know where it is. Let's just go."

* * *

Lukas had a really bad feeling about this.

Granted he had bad feelings over Dewey flopped on his crafting benches, but this time his feeling was probably most certainly definitely bad.

"I don't like this." he said, for probably the eight time in two minutes.

"So you've said." the ravenette called from in front of him.

They'd climbed about twenty blocks down, far enough that the light had vanished and he could no longer hear the sounds of Maya, Gill, and Aiden working above him.

The girl had pulled torches from her inventory, which was thankfully keeping the cave lit and bright, and so far there hadn't been any monsters, but still.

There was a reason Lukas had founded a building club and not an adventurers club.

A few minutes later, the girl paused before the opening to a gaping underground ravine. "This is where you leave me." she said.

Lukas stared at her like she was crazy (which, given the past few minutes...was starting to look like a fairly accurate assessment of this lady's character) "I can't just-" he started.

The female turned to glare at him, with eyes that were far too green to be human. "We had an agreement." she said "You bring me here, leave me now, and I talk to you tomorrow morning, otherwise I punch you in the face. What I need to do down here is my business. I don't want to get you wrapped up into it. You don't deserve to be caught up in my problems. Please just leave before I have to make you."

And even though the ravenette had only a torch, no armor, no blades, no sort of weapon at all...

Lukas believed that if she wanted to, she could overthrow Notch himself.

Lowering his gaze, Lukas nodded "Alright." he said "I'll see you in the morning."

He turned, then paused "My name is Lukas by the way." he waited for an answer, but when none came, he sighed, and began walking back up the path. As he reached the very edge of hearing distance, he heard the female call back.

"You can call me Jesse."

* * *

Jessica scaled her way down the ravine, gently hopping down blocks at a time, conjuring ladders when needed to keep her falls from hurting. Her hands burned from the amount of summoning she'd been doing. She'd gone almost nine-hundred years without summoning a single block, not wanting to attract _his_ attention. But here, she was so close. Her powers reached out, humming and singing as for the first time in a thousand years she felt it connect with the power of one of her friends.

 _ **Olivia**_ her magic sang. Olivia was close.

How had she gone on this long, so far from her friend?

Olivia was close, it was Olivia _he_ had trapped in the Overworld.

Landing at the bottom of the ravine, Jessica's hands flared gold, and she let out a shout, a summoning word screamed in the language of the Hostile.

Jessica stood with one hand raised, still glowing over her head, for three minutes, before a high pitched clacking noise sounded behind her. Jessica turned, and crouched to face a small spider. Hissing in reply to the creature's question, Jessica held a short conversation, sighing in relief as the spider agreed to lead her to the source of the ravine's power.

Following the eight-legged creature, Jessica stored the torches she'd summoned back in her inventory, and allowed her eyes to glow golden.

* * *

An hour later, Jessica and the spider had reached the end of the ravine.

Jessica's magic was singing and sparking from her skin like sparks of lightning. She was now facing a wall of bedrock, with a single glass window, just like the one she had been trapped behind. But _he_ hadn't counted on her power calling to the enderman, and having them break the glass, allowing just enough power to seep in for her to shapeshift into a smaller form.

Drawing back her fist, Jessica poured all her strength into punching the glass. Grinning as the window shattered, Jessica's form began to change.

Her hair turned orange and sunk back into her skull, leaving only the barest amount visible, her ears elongated, and slid higher on her skull, and her arms and legs shrunk. Her whole body grew short orange and black fur as her clothes melted away, and a thick orange and white tail emerged.

Within just a few seconds, a small fox was perched in the place Jessica had been.

Bunching her haunches, the fox-that-was-Jessica jumped up, landing in the space the glass had been. Peering into the dark obsidian cage, she let out a high pitched yelp.

For several tense seconds there was no answer.

And then a raspy voice croaked "Jesse?"


	4. Truth? Part One

"Easy there 'liv," Jessica whispered softly as she eased her purple-skinned friend into a chair. "Chirp, fetch some potatoes from the kitchen please, cooked ones only." It had taken the rest of the day to get Olivia out of the prison, and thanks to her having to keep pausing to keep mobs away, combined with staying hidden from the guards, it had also taken the entire night to get back home. Jesse could remember how starved she'd been when she had finally broken free, and that was without the extra thousand years pinned on. Food would do Olivia a world of good right now.

As the parrot darted out of the room, Jessica gently ran one hand down her friend's hair. "How are you feeling?"

Olivia let out a dry laugh that ended in a fit of coughing. "Like Nether," she rasped "It's...better...being out of there. I don't know how you got out on your own but...thank you. For coming back for me. Are the others-"

"Still trapped." Jessica said softly, lowering her gaze. "It's...it's been almost a thousand years since I got out. You're the first one I've found. Ive been through parts of the Nether, and a few hundred End Isles...but no sign of Axel or Petra. It was only through luck that I found traces of your powers here. EnderCon, its a big event they host here. But I did some research, the reason it's called that, and why its here...its a celebration of the defeat of an...an End Beast."

Olivia flinched, and Jessica added "And this is the only town that the people in charge could transplant end stone and have it merge properly with the dirt to grow chorus fruits outside the End. Your powers much have bled into the dirt after all this time."

The two settled into a relatively uneasy silence. Jesse glanced toward the kitchen, wondering if Chirp needed help, when the blue and gold bird rocketed through the window, whistling wildly. Flying around Jesse's head, Chirp whistled frantically, and Jesse let out a word not quite fit for children's ears. "I didn't think he'd be here this early, but that damn kid apparently isn't going to let last night go." she grumbled.

Olivia let out a halting laugh, though due to the misuse of her throat for the past thousand years, it sounded more like she was choking. "Sounds just like you when we were younger. This the kid who-?"

"Helped me get to you?" Jesse finished. "Yeah, he is. But I didn't tell him why I needed in that cave, and with all the superstition _he_ spread about us...I don't know if I should."

Olivia smacked the back of her hand weakly into Jesse's shoulder. "Where's the girl who stood outside Axel's hut for a week and a half, waiting for him to come out and confirm that yes, he had powers like the rest of us?"

Jesse's cheeks burned bright red and she muttered "That was a long time ago...now come on, we've got to get you hidden."

"Fine." Olivia rasped "But. Either you tell him within twenty minutes, or I walk out, purple skin and all." the black wings attached at Olivia's shoulder-blades rattled slightly as she stood, clinging to Jesse's arm. Jesse groaned, but didn't argue. Helping her friend into the bedroom, Jesse could hear a sharp knocking on her front door. "Fine just...give me forty minutes, alright?"

As the door shut with Olivia seated on Jesse's bed, the Queen of the End called "Half an hour and that's it!"

* * *

Lukas fidgeted nervously as he waited for the raven-haired girl from the previous afternoon to answer her door. Part of him was afraid she wouldn't answer, or that she had skipped town, or even just gone to town without leaving a note. She hadn't exactly said when today he should come but...he'd been scared all of last night, especially when she hadn't come out of the caves, the whole time he and the others had been working, he hadn't seen any sign of her. She could have, of course, found a different way out, but the safest way out was always the way you went in.

Or she could be dead...nothing but an inventory bag lying in the ravine somewhere.

Nope. Nope. Bad brain. Very bad brain.

A small blue and gold parrot flew out of an open window. The bird was familiar, he'd seen it flying around town for the past few days. Apparently the bird was just another one of the mysteries 'Jesse' had.

Lukas ran a hand through his blonde hair and wondered if he should just leave and try again later. He was half tempted to go spill everything to Maya, Gill, and Aiden, but he really wasn't ready to admit that he'd illegally smuggled a random girl into a cave, and then left her there.

And...wow there were just so. So many things wrong with that statement.

And then he heard footsteps.

Honestly Lukas could have just passed out with pure relief when the door swung open and the ravenette with green eyes stood staring out at him.

"You are...extremely punctual." Jesse said. "But ah, come on in. I promised answers so...have to give them to you now. Believe me. If I could get out of it, I would."

* * *

Lukas sat nervously in a chair made of forest green wool and dark oak wood. Jesse sat across from him in a chair made of the same materials. They had been sitting in an extremely awkward silence for about five minutes, when Jesse finally spoke.

"What do you know...about The Gods?"

Lukas's head jerked back to the girl from where he'd been looking at her bookcase. "What?" he asked.

"The Gods..." Jesse spoke slowly, like she wasn't really sure how to explain things. "What do you know about them."

Lukas scratched the back of his neck, feeling awkward "Well, um. Some people don't believe they exist but others do,"

"And do you, believe they exist?"

Lukas fidgeted. He knew Maya and Gill believed in the gods, but Aiden didn't. It had never really felt...right to side against his friends in something as big as personal beliefs, But...yeah. He believed the Gods. The Creator, the Destroyer, and the Life-Giver. And well, believing in them came with believing in The Fallen.

Alright so the two weren't really hand in hand. Gill for example didn't believe in the Fallen, but Maya thought there might be some truth to those legends.

Lukas though, he'd always been intrigued. See, the original three gods had been born? Or maybe created rather, with their powers. But the Fallen, had been humans. Of course that was supposedly why they'd revolted and become traitors, but...it showed it was possible to do something...more. To do something so good, you got noticed.

Of course it had forever since everything had supposedly 'gone down', and there had been plenty of good people, people who had done extraordinary things. And they had stayed mortal.

Lukas realized Jesse was waiting expectantly for an answer, and he shrugged kinda awkwardly. "I mean...I guess they could be true. The Gods, I mean, and...um...and the Fallen."

Jesse arched a brow, seeming surprised. She smiled at him "That saves me some time then." Her green eyes glanced toward something beyond Lukas (and a little to his left), but she was focused back on him in an instant. Her eyes were almost glowing, pulsing and swirling. It was...kinda pretty.

"So...I promised you answers of a sort, and lets just say I've been...heavily encouraged to make sure they are the..right...answers." Jesse ran a hand through her hair. "So, well...um...AGH!"

Lukas jumped nearly to the ceiling when she let out that...particularly loud word of annoyance, followed by a word his mother would have drowned him in soap for using. "Um...are you...?"

Jesse waved her hand "I'm fine it's just...been a long time since I've had to have a conversation like this." She muttered something else under her breath that Lukas didn't quite catch.

"Alright so, The Gods..." Jesse started again "I'm sure there's an easy way to go about this, probably a lot calmer, slower way too but...frankly we've got a bit of a time limit before everything gets blurted out anyways so..." Jesse looked Lukas dead in the eyes. "The Gods, including the Fallen, all of them. Are real."

* * *

Jesse watched the blonde annoyance as she dropped the imaginary tnt into his lap. The blonde was gaping at her, doing a rather good impression of a pufferfish as he stared at her.

Then suspicion glinted in his blue eyes, and he asked "H...how do I-"

"How do you know I'm telling the truth?" Jesse guessed. The blonde nodded.

Jesse took a deep breath, and then stood. Crossing the room in long strides, Jesse bent slightly, and looked the blonde right int he eyes. And then  
She let go.

Her powers thrummed through her, still humming and singing with the discovery of Olivia. "I know, because I am one of the Fallen, Lukas of Beacontown." Letting her eyes turn gold and a metallic silver sheen wash over her skin. "I am the Forgotten Fallen. And when you brought me into that cave, you helped me release the End Queen, Olivia of the Fallen."

Jesse tilted her head, and smiled at the blonde, showing off the teeth that _he_ had cursed her with. "You wanted answers, and now you have them. And now, I've kept my word to 'liv. But, she didn't exactly say what to do with you after I told you. So...now I have to decide...what to do...with you."

To his credit, the blonde sat trembling in his seat for about twenty seconds.

And then he fainted.

Jesse straightened, and turned her head as she heard slow clapping.

"Oh well done," Olivia snarked "We definitely wanted him unconscious."

Jesse shrugged, but grinned at her friend "Hey, you're the one that wanted me to tell him the truth."

Olivia merely facepalmed.


	5. Truth? Part Two

Jesse buried her face in her hands as Olivia cackled in the background.

Honestly, it wasn't even that funny.

Well...alright the passed out blonde on the opposite chair was a _bit_ funny. But at the same time it was frustrating. Though...also expected if she was being honest.

Uuugggghhhh. Why had she gotten the human wrapped up in this? She should have just gotten Olivia out and skipped town. Or not even answered the door, just let him knock until he gave up and went home.

Actually no.

What Jesse _really_ should have done, was just waited yesterday. Waited until the blonde and his friends left. She might have had to dig a bit, or even explode part of the landscape, but she could have gotten into the cave on her own. Then she wouldn't have needed to give the blonde answers, and he wouldn't be laying unconscious on her chair right now.

"So...are you done hiding in your mind yet?" Olivia's words snapped Jesse back to the real world, and she lifted her head, shooting the purple-haired woman a glower.

Olivia snorted, and held up her hands "Hey, you're the one with no patience."

Jesse made a noise somewhere between a scoff and a chortle "I will have you know that I have patience overflowing thank you very much."

Olivia laughed, and though Jesse scrunched her nose up, she couldn't help but smile. This was what she had longed for all those thousand years. Being with Olivia and the others...it wasn't like being with humans. Or, at least not any humans that Jesse had interacted with lately. It was easy...welcoming.

Friendly...

Jessica sighed, and turned to Olivia "Well since your plan failed, its my turn. Come here so I can get some blood."

Olivia arched a brow "Excuse me?"

"Ever since...what happened, I've needed blood to be able to shift people. The more blood, the longer they stay shifted. A bite's strongest, turns them for a month and a half, but with just a drop of blood, I can shift you for an hour. That should be more than enough time to convince him he passed out and imagined the conversation where I showed him what I really look like, and get him our of our hair long enough to get out of town."

Olivia arched a brow "And you think that's better than getting him on our side?"

Jesse sighed "Olivia, you've...you haven't been here these past years. Things have...it's gotten bad. _He_ spread all sorts of rumors about us, he corrupted the memory of Xara and Fred. You saw how blondie reacted!"

Olivia smiled wryly "You mean he fainted after seeing you change colors and flashing zombie teeth? Gee I wonder why." But she held out her arm nonetheless. "And for the record, I'm coming up with the cover story this time."

"Hey you were the one who said to tell him the truth."

"WELL I DIDN'T THINK YOU'D JUST GO AND TRANSFORM IN FRONT OF HIM."

* * *

Aiden was worried.

Not that he'd ever admit it of course, but the sun was nearing noon, and there was still no sign of Lukas.

Aiden knew the blonde had been torn up after last night. Honestly, Aiden wasn't sure why. Lukas had been asked to escort a cute girl (who might have been cuter if her personality wasn't so...demanding) into a _cave system._ Like hello?

If Aiden hadn't met the girl earlier he might have shoved Lukas out of the way and offered to go instead, license be damned, just to flirt with her. Honestly, Lukas had no sense of flirtation. There was, an admittedly pretty girl (no matter how snarky she was, and no matter that she'd somehow dyed his hair green for an hour solid with no trace of it coming or going) asking to go down into the mysterious caves!

At the time, Aiden hadn't been sure whether to offer himself to at least scrape her up a bit in retaliation, or warn Lukas against going anywhere with her because damn did Lukas care about his hair. So he'd kept quiet, thinking that Lukas would either figure it out for himself, or the girl would do something even stupider than messing with Aiden's hair. (That is...messing with Lukas's hair)

But of course, stupid noble Lukas had done it. AND THEN WHAT DID HE DO? He up and _leaves_ the girl in the caves. Like, had Lukas not ready any books on chivalry?

You don't leave the damsel (no matter how annoying she is) where the danger is. You get her out of there. Well, that or you do leave her there, but you run back and find someone else to save her.

Groaning, Aiden ran his hands along the back of the white and gray speckled mare before him. He always came out to the barn when he needed to think. His families horses were the best in the county, because they were so docile. A wild horse, or even half the horses from rival stables, they were wild, and would rear back and kick you off. But the horses that belonged to Aiden's family? Peaceful as a newborn lamb.

The mare made a soft nickering noise, dragging a smile from Aiden.

Tilting his head back, the brunet spotted one of the clocks hanging in the barn, and sighed. Sitting back and worrying wouldn't be doing Lukas any good. He needed to go and find Gill and Maya.

And maybe some weapons...

* * *

Lukas groaned as he came back into consciousness. His head was pounding, like an army of Ravagers were stampeding on top of his brain.

"Welcome back to the world of the living."

Lukas groaned again, and squinted in the direction of the voice. There was a girl with chocolate colored skin, dark black hair, and eyes the color of warm honey peering down at him from behind thick face smiled at him, and pulled back out of sight.

"You gave us quite the scare." A more familiar voice. Lukas pushed himself upright, wincing as his head throbbed, and looked around the room. The new girl...Jesse, was sitting on the chair opposite him, like she had been...before, before...

Lukas frowned, looking her over "You're...normal?"

Jesse blinked, looking quite startled. The other person, female from the sound of it, let out a laugh, but was quickly silenced by a glare from Jesse, before the ravenette turned back to the blonde. "I mean I haven't changed or anything, this is how I've looked my whole life."

"But- you- your skin turned- and your eyes- and, and-" Lukas stammered.

Jesse interrupted him with a shrug. "I'm sorry but I really don't know what you're going on about here. You just passed out before I could bring out my friend, to show you the research about the cave systems of Beacontown." She flashed him a grin "That's why we moved here, to study cave systems and ore formations. I'm sorry to say I got a bit impatient yesterday, and I wanted to scout it out ahead of time."

"But...the End Queen, you said-"

"Yes, because my _partner_ , Olivi- Olive, is an...Endologist." Jesse grinned awkwardly, eyes darting to look at the other female, who was now facepalming. "She's...fascinated with the stories of the End Queen, and with Endercon hosted here, she was hoping to speak with some of the more...lore-heavy booth owners as they arrive, in order to hear the stories of the End Queen from all around the world."

Jesse's green eyes glanced up at something behind Lukas, and her eyes widened. "Oh! Well, you've probably got to get going, it's past lunch, and I'm _sure_ your friends from yesterday are worried sick about you." She stood, offering her hand to Lukas.

Hesitantly, the blonde took Jesse's hand and let himself be hauled to his feet. "I'm sorry about passing out in your living room.." Lukas said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Jesse laughed, but it sounded almost...forced. "Yeah well, no big deal. What's moving to a new place without some drama right? Heh...heh..."

"Alright blondie, I'm gonna save you before Jesse starts tryin to give you things to make up for making you take her down to those caves." the other female, Olive, said, choking out a laugh of her own. "seriously, I cannot have Jess trying to give away out our equipment again." A hand was placed on Lukas's back, and though he followed her lead, it was clear she was forcing him out of the house.

Jesse ran in front of them, and opened the door. "Again, sorry about yesterday, we'll ahh...see you around~"

And then Lukas was shoved, and stumbled outside, while the door slammed shut on his heels.

Lukas frowned, and turned to look at the door.

"So..."

Lukas turned and saw Aiden, Maya, and Gill standing on the path leading up to the house, each wearing a leather chestplate, and each holding an iron sword.

"That happened."


	6. Emotions

"So...that happened."

Aiden frowned at Lukas, having just watched the blonde be kicked out the door, which was then slammed in his face. He'd caught a brief glimpse of the girl from the day before, and Aiden had to wonder what Lukas had said to get the girl's wrath aimed at him. Giving Lukas a once over, Aiden's frown deepened. Now that was just unfair. Aiden talks with the girl for five minutes, and she turns his hair green. Lukas does something bad enough to get kicked out the door, and there's not a hair out of place!

Lukas groaned, running one hand through his blonde locks.

Aiden was about to make a comment, probably something stupid about Lukas's flirting skills, when he saw the expression in Lukas's eyes. The blue orbs, usually full of life and excitement, looked almost...scared.

Lukas was never scared.

Well...alright that was a lie. Lukas was scared when something threatened Dewey, or the other Ocelots...or his hair. And he was scared that one time when there was a gravel cave-in in the mines, but by the time word had reached town the miners were already free.

Lukas was always scared for others (and his hair), but all the time Aiden had seen Lukas afraid...

It had never been like this.

This was a fear that ran straight into Lukas's core.

Aiden slid his sword onto the loop in his belt, and reached for his friend. Wrapping Lukas in a tight hug, Aiden swore that whatever that woman had done to make Lukas so afraid.

It would be nothing compared to what he was going to do to her.

* * *

Jesse spun away from the door, hands clenched into fists.

She had avoided mortals for so long. She'd forgotten how easily she got attached to them.

At first, when she and her friends had gotten their powers, it was fun, experimenting with their abilities, using their shared powers and their unique ones to create a village in the heart of an unexplored jungle. Mobs were curious, but didn't seem interested in hurting them, both hostile and friendly. The first time a zombie had tried to hug Olivia well...that was one of the memories that had kept Jesse happy through some of the harder days.

But the bad days were more common lately. Now that Jesse had finally succeeded, finally found and freed one of her friends, it was like a creeper exploding over a dam. Her emotions, like her magic, felt out of control.

Jesse closed her eyes, and forced herself to breathe.

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around Jesse, and her magic pulsed, recognizing the comforting touch of Olivia's void magic.

Leaning into her friend, Jesse gripped her friend tightly, and clung to the winged female.

It had been so long since she had allowed herself to cry.

To feel any emotion, other than anger at _him._

And so Jesse let her walls come crashing down.

And she let the tears fall for the first time in a thousand years.

* * *

The Ocelots had left the newcomer's house about twenty minutes ago.

Aiden had argued that they should take Lukas home, but the blonde had convinced him that they needed to go to the meeting place.

Really, their meeting place was just a small clearing in the middle of the forest. But it was where they had all met together for the first time. They'd fixed it up, and put up a shelter, to keep them dry in the rain. They met there every day, no matter the weather. The only time any of them missed a meeting, was if they were sick.

But this was important.

No matter how much Lukas wanted to go home and crawl into his bed until the Phantoms avoided him for a year, he had known he had to tell his friends what had happened. What he remembered.

He knew what he'd seen, what he'd heard Jesse say...he couldn't have imagined it. He knew what he had seen.

The only question was if the others would believe him.

He'd told them everything he remembered, from showing up at Jesse's house, to getting kicked out the door. Including the fainting spell in between.

Lukas looked up at his friends, hoping they wouldn't laugh to his face.

Gill looked like he was in shock, Maya had a look of deep concentration, and Aiden looked...

Well, frankly Aiden looked like he wanted to go back and smack Jesse in the face.

Aiden had always been the more...hands-on type of their friend group. Preferring to attack his problems head first. Well...fists first anyways. Maya the book-smarts, and Gill the...uniquely smart. And Lukas...well, he was the people-guy. He got people to hire them, and also made sure that nobody went back on their payments. If they did, well...he just sent Aiden after them.

Finally, Lukas couldn't take the silence any longer, and cleared his throat. "So?" he asked. "How crazy am I docs?"

Gill was the first to laugh, then Maya joined in, and Aiden, and finally Lukas couldn't stop himself and he laughed as well.

"I don't know how crazy you are yet," Maya finally said, after their laughing had slowed down to giggles. "But I need to go to the library, to check up on some things. There's a chance she was lying after you woke up. But...it's been a while since I read the myths about the Fallen. I'll see you guys tomorrow." She waved, then stood, making her way out of their clearing.

Gill sighed "I should go with her, make sure she gets home to sleep before tomorrow." the bearded man stood, and crossed over the Lukas, clapping the blonde on the back. "Don't worry about it Luke, we'll get this all figured out."

As Gill left, Aiden stood as well, holding out a hand to help Lukas up. "Don't worry." he agreed "Like they said, we'll find answers. Even if we have to make her give them to us."

Lukas smiled shakily. "Thanks Aiden..." he glanced over his shoulder, and bit his lip. "Hey...could, could you stay with me tonight? My parents are still out doing that signing in Gold Gates, and..." he trailed off.

Aiden smiled at him. "No prob, can we stop by my place long enough to pick up a spare change of clothes though? Last time we were the same size, was when we were five."

* * *

Red eyes peered from a ashen gray face.

Things had been stirring.

Very, very bad things.

Things that could undo all of his hard work.

He'd been subtly nudging pieces into play for years now, preparing his next champion.

But something was wrong.

Someone was ruining everything he'd been working towards.

Someone was going to have to pay.


	7. In the Dark of Night

There was a storm that night, thunder blaring loud enough to cover the snores ringing from Aiden's side of the bed.

To be fair though, the only reason Lukas knew just how loud Aiden's snores were, was because he'd been an idiot and insisted that he didn't mind sleeping on the floor in Aiden's room, thinking it would be just like old times.

Ha ha.

Yeah just like old times except back when they were six Aiden didn't snore.

Rolling onto his stomach and burying his head under a pillow, Lukas wondered how much Aiden would hate him in the morning if he left to go find a guest room.

As he was getting ready to at least get up and find something to drink, a different sound joined the cacophony of the night. A harsh pounding, like a drumbeat.

Lukas groaned. He'd just wanted to spend a night at his friends house, like when they were kids. He just wanted to sleep, and spend time with his friend and forget about everything that had happened during the previous day. So whyyyyy couldn't he just sleep?

And then he realized that the pounding wasn't coming from nature or someone sleeping.

It was the sound of someone beating on the door, demanding to be let in.

Lukas rolled to look up at the windows.

Yup, still raining. A flash of lightning followed by another deafening crash of thunder.

Which meant that someone was standing out in the rain, had probably walked through the storm, and was likely attracting phantoms by being awake at this hour of the night.

Alright _technically_ Lukas not being able to sleep would attract phantoms too, but he was pretty sure he had a better reason for it. Besides, he could sleep tomorrow night, or maybe he could even get some sleep tonight, if the storm would just stop and if Aiden would just stop snoring and if _whoever was awake and pounding on the door at this hour would just leave._

Lukas lay there for about twenty more seconds, reburying his head under the pillow, before finally groaning "Alright, I'm up."

Kicking the blankets off, Lukas rolled out of his makeshift nest, picking up the pillow as he went. At the very least he could use it to hit whoever it was attacking Aiden's door.

* * *

Lukas changed his mind.

He no longer wanted to hit the person with his pillow.

No, he wanted to strangle her with it.

He'd opened the door not even two minutes ago, and Maya had barged into the house, an apologetic looking Gill on her tail. Gill's arms were buried underneath a stack of books, and Maya was holding a book open.

Maya was now walking in a circle, ranting about something involving demons, secrets, and magic. If he didn't painstakingly know that he was awake, Lukas would have sworn he was dreaming this all up.

Lukas glanced at Gill. "You have any idea what she's on about?"

Gill shook his head. "She spent all afternoon in her room, went to the library right before closing time, came home and locked herself in her room again. 'Bout ten minutes ago she came barging out, and demanded that I helped her carry her books over here." Gill shrugged as best he could with an armful of books. "Haven't really understood anything else she's said."

Lukas sighed "Guess that means I've got to stop her huh?"

Gill snorted "Good luck with that. Sure you don't want to wake up Aiden first?"

Lukas laughed "If it were that easy I'd have been long asleep when you guys showed up." He sighed, rubbing the space between his eyes. "Wish me luck."

"I'll be sure to speak at your funeral." Gill replied, eyes twinkling.

Lukas shook his head, but smiled. Taking a deep breath, he made his way towards Maya, and slowly, deliberately, set his hands on her shoulders.

Maya froze, staring up at him, taking in the bags under his eyes and the slightly ruffled waves in his hair.

"Maya, I am going to say this once, so please listen." Lukas said. Maya nodded, hair bobbing with hear head's movement. "You are going to calm down, you are going to sit down, and you're going to say everything you just said but slower and at a pace us normal people can understand."

Maya nodded again, and took a deep breath.

"Wait, no." Lukas interupted before she could get going "Actually, you're going to give us the end result of whatever it was you're trying to say, and THEN you can explain the theory behind it, deal?"

Maya groaned, but nodded.

Lukas nodded, and set his arms down. Behind him, Gill sighed in disappointment, but Lukas ignored him. "So, what have you been trying to tell us?"

Maya took another deep breath, and met Lukas's blue gaze with her own gold and brown gaze. "That girl you helped? I think...I think she's a demon."

* * *

Jesse made her way to the bookshelf that lined the back wall of the main room. It was mostly empty since, despite having magical summoning powers, Jesse still had a limited inventory like humans and villagers. But - thanks to the amazing power of shulkers - Jesse still had collected quite a few books. Most of them talked about The Fallen, or were books of maps, some over a thousand years old, some more current. Reaching up, Jesse selected a book with a worn red binding.

It's cover had faded centuries ago, but the precious words inside were still clear and easy to read. Turning back to Olivia, Jesse flipped the book open, the pages falling back to the words she had read over and over.

"And like all heroes of this land,  
A path he laid to glory grand.  
Despite their crimes, the Admin knew,  
That someday redemption might break through.  
Though their crimes were vile and cruel,  
He left for us all these five clues.

To find the betrayers you need not look to far.  
Find the places from whence they were born,  
their powers given light and mortal lives shorn.  
Under the light of the guarding star.

The grand tree burns with fire,  
No rains no storms to ease his ire.  
You'll find him hidden in the deepest heart  
Where there is no sunlight, not even a spark.

The burning torch is quenched in darkness,  
There is little life yet much blankness.  
In this world of eternal night,  
Find the source of blood red light.

For the darkest soul search deep and true,  
In a world with skies of blue.  
Search for the place where the night is home,  
Under the ground, deep you must roam.

And for the last seek the night stone,  
Only breakable by powers unknown.  
Find the last under prison true,  
But beware lest the power overwhelm you."

Jesse closed the book, and looked back up at Olivia. " _He_ kept me in bedrock underneath the jail he made in the Underneath. He thought by surrounding me in bedrock, I wouldn't be able to speak to mobs. It took some time, but i got some silverfish to burrow down to me and eat through the iron bars. That let me shapeshift and get out. As for you, I found you here in the Overworld, at home-site of Endercon, the only known place in the entire overworld where Chorus Fruit can grow on dirt. I've spent a thousand years, but I still haven't found any sign of the 'deepest heart', or the 'blood red light'. But, maybe you have some ideas?"

Olivia took the book from Jesse, and began to study it. "I'll need some maps," she said "And...do you think that old elevator into the Underneath is still open? His jail might have some people who could help us. Adventurers, Mappers, Daredevils, those sort of people."

Jesse nodded grimly. "A city grew up over it, but, the elevator is still there. At least last I checked." She turned back to the bookshelf, and took a rich blue book with golden lettering down. Flipping it open, she held it out to Olivia. "If we spend today and tomorrow packing, shopping, and resting, we can leave tomorrow night and make it to Boomtown by the following dawn."


	8. What do we Know?

"You're not listening to me!"

"Maya, it's not that we don't want to listen to you, it's that..." Gill trailed off. "Aiden, Lukas? I'm literally dying here please help."

Aiden lifted his hands "Hey I just want to see where she's going with this."

Gill turned desperately towards Lukas, but the blonde was staring at Maya with extreme focus.

"Lukas? You alright man?" Gill asked, brow furrowing.

The blonde sighed, bit his lip, then shook his head. He looked back up at Maya "Demons, the Four Fallen, they were supposed to have turned into Demons when The Admin discovered their treachery, right? What if I wasn't imagining the stuff that happened before I blacked out?"

Gill's brow furrowed "Lukas, you said you thought you saw her skin turn into iron-"

"No iron, iron's white and...has an almost dull look to it. She was more gray, and...I don't know, sparkly."

"She was sparkly?" Aiden asked, arching an eyebrow as a smirk fell onto his face. "I think you left _that_ out earlier."

Lukas felt his cheeks flush red, and he stammered "I'm just, I'm just describing what I saw, what she looked like."

Aiden smirked at Maya and Gill, who seemed to be happy to have gotten off topic "Riiiiiiiiiiiighht."

Lukas's cheeks burned as he quickly asked "Can we please just move on?"

"Ugh, fine, but we're coming back to this later." Maya grumbled. She kept her eyes on Lukas "Alright, so her skin turned silver? And her hair to gold, right?"

Lukas nodded. "And I told you about the teeth right? She had literal fangs Maya. FANGS."

Aiden arched a brow, and smirked slightly. Lukas shot him a glare, then turned back to Maya. "I get that it might have been a stress hallucination, but, after what you've been saying all morning, I don't think it was." he flailed his hands slightly as he spoke, "I mean, yeah I've seen things before that aren't really there, and I know you all remember That One EnderCon."

That One EnderCon was never to be spoken of again except to remind others that it had never existed.

"But this time I don't think it was fake, I think it really happened." Lukas finished.

Gill crossed his arms. "Alright, but, what about after? When you saw her and her friend after, and they both looked normal?"

Lukas faltered "That...I haven't figured out yet. But, if she could hide her appearance, whats to say the other one couldn't too?"

Maya shook her head "No, according to legend only the Forgotten One could alter appearances...Buuttttt..." she trailed off, moving over to the stack of books Gill had deposited on the table. She took a few off of the top, and went back to the others holding a red leather-bound book with simple black lettering. "According to this book, 'A Complete Covering of the Four Fallen', the Forgotten One escaped early on in the imprisonment, right? And it was said that she could infect humans, and turn them into demons like herself. But, what if she wasn't actually making them demons? Or, you know, maybe she was, but what if, however she infects them, she can change their appearance? Or by infecting them they gain the power to change their appearance."

Maya flipped through a few pages, before flipping the book around. One side of the book showed a diagram of a person with zombie fangs and claws, while the other side was a wall of text.

Maya pointed over the top of the book to about midway through the text wall. "See, the supposed Turned Demons, the ones that claimed to have met the Forgotten One, none of them could remember her name, or what she looked like when she infected them. But they do remember fangs, and their bodies changing to look different, but the thing is, each of them had a scar. Some were bite marks, some were like these scratches all up their arms or back. But they all had a scar, and the really weird thing is, the bigger the scar, the longer they had the fangs. The longer they looked like, well...that." Maya turned her pointer finger from the text to the diagram.

Lukas squinted at the picture, it took him a few seconds to realize it, but when his brain made the connection his eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped open.

At first, he'd just thought that the artist of the picture had taken artistic liberty with the colors. But then he saw it.

The person drawn on the paper had silver skin, with purple, blue, and red swirls, almost like tattoos. They had dark violet wings, midnight blue horns, and their eyes were milky white.

Aiden made the connection next. "They look like..."

"A combination of each of the Four Fallen." Maya finished, nodding her head grimly. "This is just a theory, and, well, to be honest its a bit of a conspiracy really, but..The Forgotten One-"

"Can we just call her Jesse please?" Gill cut in. "Calling her 'The Forgotten One' each time is kinda making me more and more scared of her."

Maya nodded to her brother, and continued on "Jesse, she supposedly escaped like...fifty years after The Admin put the four of them into imprisonment. And the people she infected were literally all across the Map. So, what if, when she infected people, and made them look like that, because literally, and I mean literally, every single reported case of an infected human, infected by _her_ , this is what they looked like. So what if she made them look like that, because she was trying to find clues about the other four Fallen?"

"Alright, but...why come to Beacontown then, I mean, we haven't had anyone...like this." Aiden said, a small frown on his face.

"Exactly." Maya said, closing the book shut with a snap and pointing to Aiden. "I talked to Herz's dad when I was at the library taking all of these out, and he told me that Beacontown is the only city within a ten thousand block radius, to not have any reported cases of infected. Which means this is the first time she's come here. And from what you said, how there was another girl there after you woke up, it sounds like she finally managed to find one of her friends."

* * *

The sun was rising as Jesse finished draining the last of her cocoa from the mug. Olivia sat at her side, a mug full of tea (not quite steaming anymore) clasped in her fingers.

Jesse turned her head to watch as Chirp flew out of his birdhouse to land on the table, whistling happily to himself. Jesse smiled, and turned back to Olivia. "He says to tell you that you're hair is incredibly peckable."

Olivia arched a brow. "Ummm thank you?" she said slowly.

Jesse snorted "It means he likes you, don't worry, he won't actually peck at you, unless you put some seeds in your hair but...I don't think you'll do that."

Olivia shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips "Nah, I uh...I think I'm good."

Jesse smiled. "It's...really good to have you back 'liv." she sighed, and turned her head to look out the window. "Do you think we can find Pet' and Ax'?"

Olivia smiled "I know we will. You spent a thousand years, not giving up until you found me. Petra and Axel will be a piece of cake to find."

Jesse snorted "I sure hope so." She sighed, and looked down at her empty cup.

"Hey, it's gonna be fine." Olivia said, smiling as she reached out with one wing and wrapped it around Jesse. "I've got you. You did amazingly by yourself, and now, well, let's be real here. You _know_ I'm the brains of the four of us."

Jesse laughed, softly at first, low chuckling, but it turned into full blown guffaws. "R-remember that time when Axel thought it would be a good idea to make a house for creepers in our village?"

"Oh redstone," Olivia gasped, dropping her head onto the table "His face when that one guy got lost and thought it was his house? We heard his screamin from the other side of the jungle."

Jesse grinned "Or when Petra spent three whole months trying to create a tamed creeper, only to not realize that ever since we got our powers, hostiles have left us pretty much alone?"

Olivia snorted "Please, you're throwing her under the bus here. Clearly, the best thing that ever happened, was when you decided you wanted to start an army of eternal puppies and kittens."

Jesse held up a single finger "In my defense, who wants to fight baby animals?"

Olivia gave Jesse a deadpan stare. "Petra."

Jesse sighed, was silent for a few minutes, then muttered "Fair."

Olivia leaned forward and glanced out the window. "We should head into town now probably, yeah?"

Jesse nodded. "Yeah, there's a library I want to check. I've been making copies of every single book that I've been able to find that's been written about us. It's how I finally found you." She hummed to herself, before adding "And I want to see if anyone stocks bonemeal to speed up the farm a bit so we can harvest before we leave. I...I don't like conjuring more than I need to, I'm always afraid of getting _his_ attention."

Olivia shuddered, her wings drawing back towards her back. "How...has he ever, do you think he ever noticed you got out?"

Jesse shook her head. "Not that I know of. I think after he locked us up, and made himself look like a hero, he left. Got bored of this world probably." she huffed "Probably left to make a new one, full of people who adore him like he wants."

Olivia sighed, and shook her head. "I just hope that, well, whatever he did to the other two. The two that were more like him...I hope it was at least painless."

"The books all call them The Two Traitors," Jesse said softly.

Olivia let out a snarl, but Jesse just shook her head. "History is written by the winners, remember? He didn't want to be seen as evil, never did. He just wanted friends, and people who worshiped him. Though I'm not sure the two have much of a difference in his mind."

"Do they say what he did to them?" Olivia asked quietly.

Jesse shook her head. "No, but...that's good at least. If we don't know, there's still hope, right?"

Olivia sighed. "Yeah..."

Jesse stood, and stretched her arms back up above her head. "Alright, come on, let's...let's head to town."


	9. We Have a Plan!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright this is the last one I have, and this isn't going to be updated for a while. I've got some stuff I'm working through rn, so updates are going to be very sporadic. I may get some oneshots up soon, but we'll see.

Morning found Lukas, Maya, Gill, and Aiden sprawled in various couches and armchairs (and in Maya's case, the floor), sleeping like the dead.

At least until the daylight sensors programmed into the roof of the house registered sunlight, and instantly clicked on the very bright lights all throughout the living room. This had the very effective result of instantly waking up the four teens.

Lukas jerked up as the lights kicked on flailing slightly, and accidentally kicked Aiden in the ribcage. Aiden shouted a curse as the kick to his ribs registered, and he doubled over, hugging his torso.

The curse woke up Gill, who, as he was sitting up, dropped a book on the floor. This book had the bad luck to land directly on Maya's face, causing the girl to shriek "GET IT OFF" as she woke up, flailing wildly.

This all took about five seconds, and when it was over, the four stared at each other for a few seconds.

"So...that happened." Gill said, face rather red as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Ok but, did it though?" Maya countered, looking at the others. "I vote no." Aiden grumbled "Nothing happened, we woke up like normal people."

"I vote this as well." Gill grumbled.

Lukas got off the couch, and stretched his arms up above his head. "What time is it?" he groaned.

"Death Thirty." Aiden groaned.

"It is not death thirty." Maya replied, standing up and twisting to stretch her torso. "Its six in the morning, stop being such a baby. We've got work to do, remember."

"Yeah yeah," Aiden grumbled, glowering at the brunet. "I remember the plan. I just don't know why we decided to sleep out here."

"This works though," Maya shot back, "Because I mean, aside from us, obviously, who is going to be awake at this hour? This gives us time to get into town and figure out the shops she's most likely to go to."

"Aaaaand what do we do if she doesn't come to town?" Lukas asked, arching a brow.

Maya made a noise that, frankly, Lukas was unsure how it had come out of her vocal chords without tangling them into mush. "We went over this last night!? Not even seven hours ago! If she's not in town, we go to her house, and if she's not there, then we call Sheriff Mack and have him help us find her and arrest her!"

"Stiiilll not sure why we're trying to get her arrested." Gill muttered.

"SHE. IS. A. DEMON." Maya all but screamed "WHY WOULD WE NOT ARREST HER?"

* * *

Jesse and Olivia had waited until the sun had been up for at least an hour, before making their way into the main part of town. Jesse had settled her disguise back into place, and she'd cut Olivia again, drawing enough blood to make her disguise last for the next five hours. Jesse didn't plan on shopping for that long, and honestly, she planned to be fifty miles out of Beacontown by then.

But, the pair needed food before they left for Boomtown. Olivia had looked over the maps some more, and they'd decided that Axel was almost certainly hidden in the Nether. And, given his love for explosives, there was a pretty high chance of finding him somewhere known for...well...explosives. There were eight Griefer Towns in the world, three of them were on the other side of an ocean, two were on a continent about seven-hundred thousand blocks to the south, two of them Jesse had already visited during her thousand years, and the last one...was about three thousand blocks away. Not that far when you could fly (or, shapeshift into a flying mob).

Of course, the two could conjure their own food, but...conjured food always tasted like dirt, and the two had agreed that they didn't want to try and use their powers more than they had too, in case of alerting _him_ to their position.

"Alright, any idea where we can buy some pre-cooked food?" Olivia asked, glancing around town and fidgeting with the glasses that had been formed as part of her disguise. "Bakery? Meatshop? General Store?"

"Actually I think this place has all three. There's a butcher anyways,. I don't know if he sells cooked or just raw." Jesse's nose crinkled "And, if you want to buy anything from him, I'll just be over there smelling flowers or something. Totally not because I punched him when he tried to sell me raw beef."

Olivia winced "Uhm...alright. And sorry, I forgot you were vegetarian. Uhm...Bakery? Maybe we could find some bread? Or some baked potatoes."

"Or cake!" Jesse suggested brightly.

Olivia crossed her arms. "We're going to a town over three thousand blocks away. We need filling food, Jess. Not. Cake."

Jesse groaned, but smiled. "Alright. But after we fi- meet up, with Axel. We are buying cake."

Olivia smiled slightly "Agreed."

* * *

"Found em!" Aiden said, grinning as he nodded to Ms. Leona's Bakery. Jesse, as well as someone he didn't recognize, a feminine looking form with dark skin, hair, and glasses. The two were buying...a very large amount of bread.

"Why is there so much bread everywhere?" Maya muttered, looking through the window. Her eyes widened "Oh. My. Notch. Are those diamonds?! Are they paying her in DIAMONDS?!"

"Ok, so clearly, those two are loaded." Gill muttered. "But why do they need so much bread?"

"They must be planning to split town, so they probably didn't want to wait for all the seeds she bought yesterday to grow." Aiden said, eyes narrowed. "Alright, what's our plan?"

"Step one." Maya said, turning to Lukas. "We send in the distraction."

Lukas turned to look at her, eyes doubling in size. "Excuse me?!"

"You." Maya said, pointing to Lukas "Are going to go in there." she turned her hand to point at the bakery, where Jesse and her friend were busy gathering their bread and sliding it into their inventories. "And keep them from leaving town, until we." she pointed to herself, Aiden, and Gill "get back here with the Sheriff."

"Why me though?" Lukas protested.

Maya glanced at Aiden. "Well its this, or we take your hair products hostage."

Lukas glowered at the pair.

"Fine."


End file.
